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Liane Llewellyn, 29, of Denholme, Bradford, will be taking part in “The Swim”, an epic relay team challenge which will see celebrities tackle a 56-mile swim across the treacherous Irish Sea.Liane is one of two people selected by Swim Trek, The Swim’s event partner, to be the team’s “super swimmers”.

They will bring invaluable open water swimming expertise, knowledge and strength to The Swim team and help the team complete this gruelling once in a lifetime challenge to cross the Irish Sea. So far, the team includes singer Ronan Keating, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, The Gadget Show host Jason Bradbury and TV presenter Jenny Frost, who are aiming to raise £1m for Cancer Research UK.

Liane will line up with the celebrity swimmers when the event takes place in September.“I’m really excited about the challenge. The Irish Sea is notoriously rough and cold. It’s unknown territory for me but I love open water swimming and it’s for such a good cause I knew this was something I couldn’t resist.”

Liane is urging people in Yorkshire to support the fundraising drive by staging their own swimming related activity sponsoring the team. Her father Gywn was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 by his GP and she knows how important it is to raise money for the charity’s life saving research.

Her dad, 64, who with mum Pat, 63, lives in Odsall, was diagnosed with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma – a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects the skin. Liane said: “It was a shock when Dad was diagnosed, but he is undergoing UV treatment at Bradford Royal Infirmary and, thank goodness, is doing really well. Also, my mum had two cousins who died of stomach cancer. Terry when he was only 39 and Maxine, who was in her early 40s and had three young children. My mum is currently undergoing genetic testing at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds to see if there is any family link.

“As a family we’re all very aware of the importance of funding for research into better cancer treatment and hopefully an eventual cure. That’s why I’m thrilled to take part in The Swim. I’ll not only be doing something I love but also raising money for an excellent cause.”

Liane, a physiotherapist who works for the Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust in Bury, learned to swim at the age of three and when she was 14 won her first major competition, swimming the five and a quarter mile length of Coniston Water

Since then Liane, who is a Life Member of the City of Bradford Swimming Club, has undertaken solo swims including Lake Windermere (10.5 miles) Loch Lomond (21 miles overnight) Loch Ness (22 miles) and the English Channel (21 miles) in 2005.

Her biggest and toughest challenge to date was her two-way Channel swim in 2009 (42 miles in 27h 20m), making her the first person in Yorkshire to complete the challenge and only the third woman in Britain to do it.

Nicki Embleton, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Yorkshire said: “By pooling the fundraising efforts of Liane and the celebrity relay team... we hope to raise an amazing £1m for Cancer Research UK – to help more people in Yorkshire beat cancer.”

GET INVOLVED FOR CANCER RESEARCH

The Swim is a unique celebrity-led challenge to swim the treacherous Irish Sea from Holyhead to Dublin in a relay team, a distance of 56 miles, almost three times the length of the English Channel, to raise £1m towards Cancer Research UK’s lifesaving work. It will take place in September this year.

Sir Richard Branson and Ronan Keating will captain a relay team of 10 intrepid swimmers to brave the Irish Sea. People are also being encouraged to hold their own sponsored swim event at their local swimming pool and get sponsored between now and the end of September 2011. All the money will be pooled in a bid to raise £1m for Cancer Research UK.

In the time it takes the team to swim the Irish Sea, 1,200 people in the UK will hear the words “you have cancer”.

Anyone can sponsor the team at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/theswim

For more information visit www.the-swim.co.uk